DAKAR, Senegal

Israel’s ambassador to Senegal, Yuval Waks, was forced to leave a university campus in Dakar on Tuesday after students protested his presence and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans, according to footage circulating on social media.

Waks had been invited to speak at a conference on international relations practices at Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), the country’s largest and most prominent higher education institution. But as he arrived, dozens of students gathered outside the hall, chanting “Free Palestine,” “Free Gaza” and “Israel is a war criminal.”

Videos shared online show students waving Palestinian flags and booing the newly appointed envoy, preventing him from delivering his speech.

Waks was escorted off by security and left the campus without addressing the audience.

Protesters continued to follow him, shouting slogans and waving flags as he departed.

Waks, who also serves as Israel’s non-resident ambassador to Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and Chad, presented his credentials to Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on May 8.

Israel has kept Gaza crossings closed to food, medical and humanitarian aid since March 2, deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis in the enclave, according to government, human rights and international reports.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing over 54,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.